Yvonne De Carlo (born Margaret Yvonne Middleton; September 1, 1922 – January 8, 2007) was a Canadian American actress, singer, and dancer whose career in film, television, and musical theatre spanned six decades.

Margaret Yvonne Middleton was born on September 1, 1922, in West Point Grey (now part of Vancouver), British Columbia.[9] She was the only daughter of William Middleton, an Australian-born salesman,[10] and Marie DeCarlo (August 28, 1903 – December 19, 1993),[11] a French-born aspiring actress.[12] Her mother ran away from home at 16 to become a ballerina; after several years working as a shop girl, she married in 1924. De Carlo was three years old when her father abandoned the family. She then lived with her grandparents, Italian-born Michael DeCarlo (born Michele; c. 1873 – July 1, 1954)[13] and Scottish-born Margaret Purvis.

When De Carlo was ten her mother enrolled her in the Jean Roper School of the Dance in Vancouver.[14]

By the time she entered grade school she found her strong singing voice brought her the attention she longed for. De Carlo was taken to Hollywood, where her mother enrolled her in dancing school. Mother and daughter were uprooted when their visas expired and ultimately returned to Vancouver.

De Carlo pair made several trips to Los Angeles until 1940, when she was first runner-up to "Miss Venice Beach". She also came fifth 1940s Miss California competition.[15]

She was hired by showman Nils Granlund as a dancer at the Florentine Gardens.[16] She had been dancing for Granlund only a short time when she was arrested by immigration officials and deported to Canada,[17] but in January 1941, Granlund sent a telegram to US immigration officials pledging his sponsorship of De Carlo in the U.S., and affirmed his offer of steady employment, both requirements to reenter the country.[18]

Seeking contract work in the movies, she abruptly quit the Florentine Gardens after less than a year, landing a role as a bathing beauty in the 1941 Harvard, Here I Come.[19]

Other roles were slow to follow, and De Carlo took a job in the chorus line of Earl Carroll. During World War II she performed for U.S. servicemen and received many letters from GIs.[20]

In May 1941 she appeared in a revue, Hollywood Revels. A critic from the Los Angeles Times reviewed it saying that the "dancing of Yvonne de Carlo is especially notable".[21] In December 1941 she was dancing in the revue "Glamour Over Hollywood" at Florentine Gardens.[22] Being a skilled horserider, she also appeared in a number of west coast rodeos.[14]

De Carlo was spotted dancing at a Hollywood nightclub by a Paramount talent scout, who signed her to the studio as a back up Dorothy Lamour - what the New York Times later dubbed a "threat girl... for when Dotty wanted to break away from saronging".[23][24] She was kept busy in small roles and helping other actors shoot tests. "I was the test queen at Paramount," she said later.[14] But De Carlo was ambitious and wanted more; "I'm not going to be just one of the girls," she would say.[25]

De Carlo received her big break in September 1944 when she was chosen over a reported 20,000 girls to play the lead role in Salome, Where She Danced (1945), a Walter Wanger production in Technicolor.[4][28] Wanger later claimed he spotted De Carlo when looking at footage for another actor in which De Carlo also happened to appear.[29] Another source says 21 Royal Canadian Air Force bombardier students who loved her as a pinup star campaigned to get her the role.[30] De Carlo later said this was done at her behest; she took several pictures of herself in a revealing costume and got two childhood friends from Vancouver, Reginald Reid and Kenneth Ross McKenzie, who had become pilots, to arrange their friends to lobby on her behalf.[14]

Though not a critical success, it was a box office favorite, and the heavily-promoted De Carlo was hailed as an up-and-coming star. In his review for the film, Bosley Crowther of the The New York Times wrote:

Miss De Carlo has an agreeable mezzo-soprano singing voice, all the 'looks' one girl could ask for, and, moreover, she dances with a sensuousness which must have caused the Hays office some anguish. The script, however, does not give her much chance to prove her acting talents.[31]

Salome was released by Universal who signed de Carlo to a long-term contract. She was used by the studio as a back up star to Maria Montez, and indeed stepped into a role rejected by Montez when she starred in Frontier Gal.[25] In 1946, exhibitors voted her the ninth-most promising "star of tomorrow."[32]

She followed this up with Song of Scheherazade (1947) and Slave Girl, which like her previous two movies for Universal, was in Technicolor. These two were box office disappointments.

De Carlo wanted to act in different type of movies and was given a small role in Brute Force. She was then cast in her first important role opposite Burt Lancaster in the film noirCriss Cross (1949). Bosley Crowther noted that De Carlo is "trying something different as Anna. The change is welcome, even though Miss de Carlo's performance is uneven. In that respect, she is right in step with most everything else about Criss Cross."[5] De Carlo considered the role the highlight of her career to date.[33]

When De Carlo was in England making Hotel Sahara in early 1951 she asked Universal for a release of her contract even though she still had three months to go; they agreed.[34] After that she signed to make one film a year for them for three years - but actually did not return to the studio until 1955.[35]

De Carlo travelled extensively to promote her films and her appearances were widely publicised. In 1951 she became the first American star to visit Israel.[36]

Trained in opera and a former chorister at St Paul's Anglican Church, Vancouver, when she was a child, De Carlo possessed a powerful contralto voice. In order to expand her appeal she began frequently singing on television and trained in opera. In 1951 she was cast in the role of Prince Orlovsky in a production of the opera Die Fledermaus at the Hollywood Bowl.[37]

She starred in the British comedy The Captain's Paradise (1953), as one of two wives a ship captain (played by Alec Guinness) keeps in separate ports. Crowther described her in the film as "wonderfully candid and suggestive of the hausfrau in every dame."[6]

I cast Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora, the wife of Moses, after our casting director, Bert McKay called my attention to one scene she played in Sombrero, which was a picture far removed in theme from The Ten Commandments, I sensed in her a depth, an emotional power, a womanly strength which the part of Sephora needed and which she gave it.[41]

In 1954 she expressed a desire to do more comedy:

I've had my share of sirens and am happy to get away from them, no matter what the part. Just to look pretty on the screen as a romantic lead is probably all right, but - so what? I'd much rather do something in a good Western provided there's plenty of action. Action is what I like.[42]

De Carlo released an LP record of standards called Yvonne De Carlo Sings on Masterseal Records in 1957. This album was orchestrated by future film composer John Williams under the pseudonym "John Towner."

De Carlo was in debt by 1964 when she signed a contract with Universal Studios to perform the female lead role in The Munsters opposite Fred Gwynne. She was also the producers' choice to play Lily Munster when Joan Marshall, who played Phoebe, was dropped from consideration for the role. When De Carlo was asked how a glamorous actress could succeed as a ghoulish matriarch of a haunted house, she replied simply, "I follow the directions I received on the first day of shooting: 'Play her just like Donna Reed.'"[43] She sang and played the harp on at least one episode ("Far Out Munsters") of The Munsters. After the show's cancellation, De Carlo reprised the role as Lily Munster in the Technicolor film Munster, Go Home! (1966), partially in hopes of renewing interest in the sitcom. Despite the attempt, The Munsters was cancelled after 70 episodes. Of the sitcom and its cast and crew, she said: "It was a happy show with audience appeal for both children and adults. It was a happy show behind the scenes, too; we all enjoy working with each other."[44] Years later, in 1987, she said: "I think Yvonne De Carlo was more famous than Lily, but I gained the younger audience through The Munsters. And it was a steady job."[45]

Butch Patrick who played De Carlo's younger werewolf son, Eddie Munster, in all the episodes said in a 2013 interview with Rockcellar Magazine, who (along with De Carlo herself) weren't playing their own original roles in the Munster pilot was: "I don’t know why Happy Derman didn’t work out. I was living in the Midwest with my grandmother and going to parochial school in the fifth grade. I got a call that there was going to be a screen test on the West Coast and told to get on a plane. I met with Yvonne DeCarlo, who replaced Joan Marshall, the actress in the pilot. They changed the character name from 'Phoebe' to 'Lily' and Happy Derman was out and I was in and cast as “Eddie Munster” on The Munsters. I was told Eddie was just a regular ten-year-old kid living in this spooky house with his family. On paper it looked strange but once you got onto the set and saw the soundstage you kind of understood what was going on." He also added about his relationship with Ms. De Carlo: "Yvonne would be a maternal influence. She’d be a mom because my mom wasn’t around so she’d be a matriarch, not only on the show but when I’d see her outside of the makeup on Mondays and Tuesdays. Once in a while she’d bring her kids down to the set."[46]

After 1967, De Carlo became increasingly active in musicals, appearing in off-Broadway productions of Pal Joey and Catch Me If You Can. In early 1968 she joined Donald O'Connor in a 15-week run of Little Me, staged between Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas.[9] Her defining stage role was as "Carlotta Campion" in Stephen Sondheim's musical, Follies in 1971-1972.[9] Playing a washed-up star at a reunion of old theater colleagues, she introduced the song "I'm Still Here," which would become well known in the musical theater.

I think it is wonderful to work. I dedicate more time now than ever to study. I really like to delve deeply into the characters and the stories in order to make the most of each part I play. It seems best to remain free of any serious romantic attachments under these circumstances. I will have to meet an exceptional and understanding person, indeed, before I think of marriage. I haven't met such a person yet.[42]

De Carlo married stuntman Robert Drew Morgan,[49] whom she met on the set of Shotgun, on November 21, 1955. They had two sons, Bruce Ross (b. 1956) and Michael (1957-1997). Morgan also had a daughter, Bari Lee (b. 1947), from a previous marriage.[50] Morgan lost his left leg after being run over by a train while filming How the West Was Won (1962). However, his contract with MGM assumed no responsibility for the accident. De Carlo and Morgan filed a $1.4 million lawsuit against the studio, claiming her husband was permanently disabled. They divorced in June 1974.

Her mother died in 1993 from a fall. Her son Michael died in 1997; causes were unknown, although a Santa Barbara Police report contains concerns about possible foul play.

^PARAMOUNT BUYS TWO NEW STORIES: Giler Melodrama and Clark Adventure Acquired by Studio --Jean Arthur Gets Role By THOMAS F. BRADY Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 30 Jan 1951: 21.